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Athens News Courier (Newspaper) - September 27, 2009, Athens, Alabama
The News Courier’s Dining Guide Inside TodayThe News Courier
Serving Athens and Limestone County: A Community of Tradition and Future
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Sunday, September 27, 2009
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Inside
Today
Brother stabbed in fight over woman
By Kelly Kazfk kellyiAa thensnew s-courier. com A man authorities say was stabbed in the neck by his brother was inestable condition Saturday morning at Huntsville Hospital’s surgical intensive care unit, the sheriff said.
The stabbing occurred at about
9:30 p.m. Friday in a mobile home off Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road in Tanner, allegedly during a light between the brothers over a woman, said Limestone County Sheriff' Mike Blakelv.
Luis Lopez, 28, of 11805 Stewart Road told police before he was transported to the hospital that his
brother had stabbed him, Blakely, said. Luis’ brother. Humberto Lopez, 30, also of Stewart Road, was not on the premises when deputies responded to the call about the stabbing.
Humberto was arrested Saturday morning at the Bomar Inn and charged with assault and first-de
gree domestic violence, the sheriff said.
“He was there with the woman they got in a fight over,” Blakely said of Humberto’s capture at the Bomar. He was discovered at the motel at about 10:30 a.m. after authorities received a tip on his whereabouts, the sheriff said.
Madison councilman to oppose Sen. Butler
By Karen Middleton kuren 9. athensnews-couriet.com
First-term Madison City Councilman Bill Holtzclaw has declared his candidacy to run against state Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison.
Butler has held the District 2 seat for 27 years.
Holtzclaw, 45, a Republican, has been a Madison resident since 1999 and was elected to the Madison City Council in 2008.
A native of Elaine, Ark., and a Marine Corps veteran, Holtzclaw served in Operation Desert Storm with the First Marine Division and Operation Restore Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia, with the Regimental Combat Team 7 of the First Marine Division.
He retired from the' Marines in 2003 as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 after having served as the officer in charge of the Marine Corps Ammuni-
See Councilman, page 3A
Jerry
Man who led Decatur police on chase faces felony charges in Limestone
Why are buffet s doors closed?
Business
cards
Fnd a handy sheet of tear-and-keep cards for local businesss
INSIDE TODAY
Local on every page
In addition to a Dining Guide and tear-and-keep business cards in today's edition, you'll find local stories or information on every page, including:
»Opinion, page 4 »Letters to the Editor, page 5 »Valley, page 6 »Lifestyles, pages 9-11 »Limestone Ledger, page 13 »Meet the Neighbors, page 14 »Scene, page 15 »Around Limestone, page 20 »Historical photos sought, 20 »KALB receives grant, page 21 »Courthouse beat, page 26 »Church breifs, page 27 »Area blood drives, page 28
Index
Classifieds ID
Ledger.........13 A
Lifestyles........9A
Obituaries 2A
Ruby Head Floyce Keyes Bobby Martin James Ricketts Jewell Rost Ben Studstill III
Sports ¿vi .IB
Valley........ .6A
NEWS COURIER/KIM RYNDERS
Despite the empty parking lot at the $5 Buffet on U.S. 72 behind Taco Bell, guests continued to pull into the lot and try the doors, hoping for a meal. No sign warned them the business was closed. Owner Steve Barnhill says he hopes to reopen around Thanksgiving.
Two businesses in Athens close; one hopes to reopen
The owner of a local restaurant said he closed its doors because “we just didn’t have enough support from the community.”
But Steve Barnhill, who owns $5 Buffet on U.S. 72 behind Taco Bell, plans to reopen under a new name and with a new menu.
“We didn’t have enough guest count to justify the $5 buffet price,” Barnhill said by telephone Friday. “It didn’t hap
pen in Athens like it has other places.”
Barnhill said he plans to change the menu and reopen — possibly as Steve Barnhill’s Southern Fresh Buffet — before Thanksgiving.
Athens recently lost another business due to slow sales when Handy TV & Appliance on S. Jefferson Street closed its doors.
Representatives for the electronics store could not be reached Friday.
Long-sought photo discovered of Trinity School founder Mary Wells
Editor's Note: Charlotte Fulton, a local historian and former feature writer for The News Courier, is in the midst of research for a book she is writing on Trinity High School. Tfe book will be published in conjunction with a project to preserve historic Trinity School and create a museum. That project is headed by Athens-Limestone Community Association.
By Charlotte Fulton
For Jhe News Courier My months-long search for a photo of Maiy Frances Wells paid off this week when an archivist in Ann Arbor, Mich.,
located online an 1893 book with a biography and picture of the woman who founded Trinity School in Athens in 1865.
Former students of Trinity and those familiar with local history know about the heroic missionary who came South during the Civil War to care for wounded soldiers and stayed to teach ffeedmen. But it is unlikely that any one of them has seen her likeness. Prior to this week, the only indication I have had that an image of Wells ever existed was in a 1913 letter written by Louise Allyn, a later Trinity prin-
See Wells, page 7A
COURTESY PHOTO
Mary Wells
By Kelly Kazek
k( •lly a iitl)( nsnew s-ivurier.(xmi A man arrested bv Athens police for car theft in August led Decatur police on a chase Friday when they attempted to pull him over for violating the noise ordinance.
Local charges against Michael “Sweet Pear”
Lacy Peterson,
32. of 2234 Lev-ert Avenue,
Athens, were transferred from
Athens Police to _
the Limestone ‘Sweet Pear' Peterson
County District
Attorney’s office you saw itfi£>t % after they were
upgraded to ^ breaking news
felony counts. at
With new charges pending, DA Kristi Vails will make the determination whether to revoke Peterson’s bond, a police spokesman said.
Peterson remained in Decatur City Jail on Saturday, a spokeswoman said.
Peterson was charged with reckless endangerment, attempting to flee or elude, resisting arrest, driving while revoked, and violation of the sound control ordinance. Decatur Police Department spokesman Lt. Jonathon Green said “a felony investigation is being conducted into the vehicle theft and felony charges are expected to be added against Peterson.”
See Chase, page 3A
Tide meets Razorbacks
Alabama Crimson Tide took on the Arkansas Razorbacks in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. See the game breakdown on
SPORTS, PAGE IB
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